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All of our assessments are designed to standardize as many exam elements as possible. Depending on candidate registration numbers and facility parameters, exam format may vary in administration. Our commitment is to ensure that all candidates are given a fair and valid assessment experience.

The assessment consists of two parts, which take place on the same day over five-and-a-half to six hours. No external contact is permitted during the exam.

Part 1: Written multiple choice exam (2.5 hours)

The multiple choice question (MCQ) exam consists of up to 97 questions. Candidates are required to choose the correct or best answer from a list of three or four responses. The MCQ exam assesses the following professional competencies:

Domain:Professional Responsibility and Accountability

Demonstrates an understanding of professional conduct in accordance with the College’s standards for nursing practice and ethics and that the primary duty is to the client to ensure safe, competent, ethical nursing care.

Domain:Service to the Public

Demonstrates an understanding of the concept of public protection and the duty to provide and improve health care services in collaboration with clients and other members of the interprofessional health care team, stakeholders and policy makers.

Domain:Self-Regulation

Demonstrates an understanding of professional self-regulation by advocating in the public interest, developing and enhancing one’s own competence and ensuring safe practice.

Part 2: Objective structured clinical examination (OSCE)

Candidates complete 12 clinical encounter stations where they play the part of a registered nurse and interact with a standardized client. At the start of each station, they receive a brief written statement that introduces the presenting clinical problem and states the task the candidate needs to perform.

The OSCE stations for this exam represent common workplace examples of the content areas. Candidates should manage each presenting case as they would in a real life practice setting. There are no hidden surprises or tricks.

Domain: Knowledge-Based Practice

This competency category has two sections: Specialized Body of Knowledge and Competent Application of Knowledge.

Specialized Body of Knowledge: Draws on diverse sources of knowledge and ways of knowing, including the integration of nursing knowledge from the sciences, humanities, research, ethics, spirituality, relational practice, critical inquiry and primary health care principles.

Competent application of knowledge: Demonstrates competency in the provision of nursing care. The competency statements in this section apply to the four areas of nursing care: Assessment, Planning, Implementation of Care and Evaluation. The provision of nursing care is an iterative process of critical inquiry and is not linear in nature.

RN Competency Category Sub-domains

Comprehensive assessment

Health care planning

Provision of nursing care

Evaluation of care

Collaboration

Domain: Ethical Practice

Demonstrates competency in professional judgment and practice decisions by applying the ethical values and responsibilities in the College’s standards for ethics. The registered nurse also engages in critical inquiry to inform clinical decision-making and establishes therapeutic, caring and culturally safe relationships with clients and the interprofessional health care team.
The OSCE will assess a candidate’s: